our
number, who had been in the habit of using these treacherous cords with
perfect and most unfounded confidence. Only four ropes passed
successfully through this trial; these were all made by Messrs.
Buckingham and Sons, of 33, Broad-street, Bloomsbury, and can be procured
only of them. We confined our further experiments to these ropes, one of
which failed under severer tests, while the remaining three, made
respectively of Manilla hemp, Italian hemp, and flax, proved so nearly
equal in strength that it may fairly be doubted which is on the whole to
be preferred. Each of these three ropes will bear twelve stone falling
ten feet, and fourteen stone falling eight feet; and it may be useful to
say that the strain upon a rope loaded with a weight of fourteen stone,
and suddenly checked after a fall of eight feet, is nearly equal to that
which is caused by a dead weight of two tons. None of these ropes,
however, will bear a weight of fourteen stone falling ten feet; and the
result of our experiments is, that no rope can be made, whether of hemp,
flax, or silk, which is strong enough to bear that strain, and yet light
enough to be portable. We believe that these ropes, which weigh about
three-quarters of an ounce to the foot, are the heaviest which can be
conveniently carried about in the Alps. We append a statement of the
respective merits of the three kinds, all of which are now made by
Messrs. Buckingham, expressly for the Club, and marked by a red worsted
thread twisted in the strands:--

No. 1. MANILLA HEMP. Weight of 20 yards, 48 oz. Advantages--Is softer and
more pliable than 2. Is more elastic than 2 and 3. When wet, is far more
pleasant to handle than 2 and 3. Disadvantages--Has a tendency to wear
and fray at a knot.

No. 2. ITALIAN HEMP. Weight of 20 yards, 43 oz. Advantages--Is less bulky
than 1 and 3. Is harder, and will probably wear best, being least likely
to cut against rocks. Disadvantages--Is much more still and difficult to
untie than 1 and 3. When wet, is very disagreeable to handle, and is apt
to kink.

No. 3. FLAX. Weight of 20 yards, 44 oz. Advantages--When dry, is softer,
more pliable, and easier to handle than 1 and 2, and will probably wear
better than 1. Disadvantages--When wet, becomes decidedly somewhat
weaker, and is nearly as disagreeable to handle as 2.

Knots.--There can be no doubt that every knot in a rope weakens its power
of resisting a sudden jerking strain. How great a loss of st